Month: June 2016

Thanks for checking in. We are doing well and are staying with friends in Cologne, Germany. Our next Major destination is Prague and we are excited to see more of this beautiful country on our way there. Joel wanted to share some of his thoughts from the first week of the journey so enjoy!

“Yesterday morning I woke up sore. I mean really, really sore. We had biked over 120 km the day before and were camped on the side of a hill with tree roots sticking up beneath us. I know this sounds like an awful choice of camping spot, but we honestly had no other options. My first thought when I woke up was that I didn’t want to get on my bike at all. My second was that there was no way we were going to be able to do this for another five and a half months. I started craving the comforts of home and getting a little frustrated at myself for ever deciding to go on this venture. Honestly, I felt entitled. In that moment I truly believed it was my right to be comfortable all the time.

This is not the case. It was never our right to be comfortable and yet it is something we seek above almost everything else. We spend time with the people we like to be around. We go visit places where we know we won’t have to step out of our comfort zone. We read one blog article on an issue instead of spending the time to do legitimate research, because that might mean we actually have to engage reality head on instead of just voicing an opinion over social media.

Let’s get uncomfortable with the fact the millions of people around the world are victims of sex trafficking. Let’s get uncomfortable with the fact that our choices and cultural viewpoints might have something to do with that.

Maybe sex trafficking isn’t the specific area you feel passionate about working against. That is so valid! But whoever you are, and wherever you might be, always be willing to get uncomfortable so that you can engage with the world and sit with others as they experience pain and hardship. And in the end always believe that there is hope. Even in the apparent absence of hope, and in the most uncomfortable of times, hold on to hope.” – Joel